Hot soup in a lunch box is a leak disaster waiting to happen.

For carrying hot soup, stew, or chili without leaks in a bag, get a vacuum-insulated food jar with a screw-on lid—brands like Thermos, Zojirushi, and Stanley nail this.

Regular leak-proof lunch boxes with flip latches and silicone seals are fine for dry food, but they’re a gamble with liquids. The lid seals are often pressure-rated for sandwiches, not a sloshing, hot broth. Plus, they won’t keep anything hot. You’ll get lukewarm stew and a damp laptop.

What you want is a wide-mouth thermos-style jar. The vacuum insulation does the heavy lifting on heat retention, and the screw-on lid has a thick silicone gasket that actually forms a tight seal. Thermos’ Stainless King food jar and Zojirushi’s food jar are the gold standards. Stanley makes a solid budget option too. Go for one with a wide opening so you can eat straight out of it with a spoon, and get the 16-ounce or larger size. Some models even come with a folding spoon in the lid.

You don’t need a “leak-proof lunch box” marketing buzzword. You need a jar that was built to hold hot liquid. That’s it.

Your bag will thank you.